Automatic spooling-machine.



A.. G. WALLS.

AUTOMATIC SPOOLING MAGHINB.

APPLIUATION FILED JUNE 1s, 1911.

Patented Feb. 20, 1912.

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A. G. WALLS. AUTOMATIC SPOLING MACHINE.

APrLIoAToN FILED JUNE 16. 1911.

1,01 7,7 1 8. Patented Feb. 2o, 1912.

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A. G. WALLS.

AUTOMATIC SPOOLING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED 111111116, 1911.

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Patented Feb. 20, 1912.

A. G. WALLS.

AUTOMATIC SPOOLING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED JUNI'. 16, 1911.

1,017,718. Patented Feb.20,1912.

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ALEXANDER GROUNDWATEB, WALLS, OF PAISLEY, SCOTLAND, ASSIGNOR T0 WALTERIVICGEE & SON, LIMITED, OF PAISLEY, SCOTLAND.

AUTOMATIC SPOOLINGr-IVIACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

` Application filed June 16, 1911.

Patented Feb. 20, 1912. seriai No. 633,521. i

To all whom it may concern:

'Be it known that I, ALEXANDER GROUND- wA'rnR IVALLS, a subject of theKing of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and residing atPaisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland, have invented a certain new and usefulImprovement in Automatic Spooling-Machines, of'which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to automatic spooling machines having thespooling heads and the cam motions similar to or resembling more orless, those of the IVeild type shown in U. S. Patent No. 51907, grantedto lVilliam Weild, and citations therein, and also in British PatentsNos. 1128 of April 16, 1867 and 48 of January 6,1870 also granted toWilliam Weild.

According to the invention, there are provided two or more parallel rowsof spooling headstocks fitted with spindle, gear, thread cutting andholding, nick-cutting and spool-feeding mechanism similar to those onwell known types of Weild spoolfA ing machines having the usual singlerow of spooling heads. The various motions on the parallel rows ofspooling headstocks are coupled together so that all work in unison. Inorder that the parallel rows of spooling heads may perform theiroperation simultaneously the right angle motions are coupled to thevarious shafts, at or very near, the same point in the shafts, so thattorsional error in the shafts maybe avoided.

Figure I is a sectional end elevation of a machine of t-he type referredto equipped with the improvements. Fig. II is a front elevation. Fig.III is a front elevation and Fig. IV is a sectional end elevationshowing details of the traverse mechanism. Fig. V is a rear elevationand Fig. VI is a diagrammatic sectional end elevation of the mainheadstock of the machine.

Referring particularly to Fig. I of the drawings, the machine comprisesthe usual rail l of channel section for supporting the spooling heads,and a similar rail 2 for supporting a second row of heads, each railbeing fitted with the usual complemental parts such as the spoolingheads 3 and 4; the brackets 5 and 6 for carrying the nickin'g, cuttingand holding mechanism which includes the nicking knives 7 and 8, and theusual thread hook holding spring and cutting knife of the Weild ,endingmotion as at 9 and 10. Shafts 11 and 12 carry the tail centers or shortspindles and shafts 13 and 14 control t-he endwise motion of the drivingspindles. 15 and 16 -are the thread wire shafts. 17 and 18 are the sideor starting end knife shafts. 19 and 20 are the spindle wheel shafts. 21and 22 are the thread hook shafts. 23 and 24 are the traverse shafts and25 and 26'are the spool lifter shafts.

The odd reference numerals, 1 to 25, Fig. I, indicate well known partsof the lVeild type of spooling machine, and the even reference numerals,2 to 26, Fig. I, indicate the same parts in the second row of spoolingheads.

The following means are provided for coupling the motions of theparallel rows'of spooling heads in so far as they are shown in Fig. I.27 is the usual longitudinal cam shaft of the Weild type of spoolingmachines. 28 is the nieking shaft, which shaft is rocked in the usualway by means of a cam and lever. The nicking knives 7 and 8 receive'their movement through the couplings and levers 29, 31 and 30, 32,respectively. The thread hook shaft 21 'receives movement from 'itscorresponding lcam through the intermediary of a bell-crank cam lever33, coupling 34 and lever 35. The thread hook 9 is then actuated bymeans of a lever'36. A lever 37 is fixed to the thread hook shaft 21,and movement is communicated to a similar lever '38 on the thread hookshaft 22 by means of a coupling link 39. The thread hook shafts 21 and22 therefore work in unison and as the lever 37 is vsecured to the shaft21 at a point near to the point of connection of said shaft 21 with itscorresponding cam by the lever 35,- there is no appreciable torsionaldifference in the said shafts 21 and 22.

40v is the cam lever for controlling the spool lifter's. Movement'isimparted 'to thespool lifting shaft 25 by means of a coupling link 41and a lever 42, which lever is mounted freely on the shaft'25 but iscoupled by means of a spring 43 to a lever 44 which is secured to thespool lifting shaft 25. The spool lifter 45 is actuated by means ofalever 46 and is carried upward and forward over a roller 47 on thebracket 5. Movement is imparted from the shaft 25 to t-he spool liftershaft 26 by means of a lever 48, link 49 and a lever 50. Thespool'lifter shafts 25 land 26 therefore Work in unison and as the lever48 is secured to the-shaft 25 in a position near to the point ofconnection to the corresponding cam (not shown), there is no appreciabletorsional difference in the shafts l25 and 26.

The traverse shafts 23 and 24 carry the guide stocks and guides forlaying the thread on the spools, In order to minimize torsional errorproduced in rocking said shafts to lift the guides, the traverse shaft23 is of large diameter and has its torsion applied at two widelyseparated points by means of levers 51 keyed on the shaft 23 and on thetorsion distributing 'shaft 52, which, together with the levers 51,receives movement, the shaft 23 serving as a fulcrum, from a lever 53disposed between the levers 51.

'Io communicate torsional movement from the traverse shaft 23 to thetraverse shaft 24 there are mounted two levers 54 in juxtaposition tothe levers 51 on shaft 23. By means of links 55 and levers 56 movementis imparted to the traverse shaft 24 from the levers 54, and as thelevers 54 are mounted on the traverse shaft 23 at widely separatedpoints, the torsion is distributed on the shaft 24 by the equally spacedlevers 56. 'Io eliminate play in the joints of the links and levers 54,55 and 56, a spring 57 is connected to each pair of levers 54 and 56.The traverse shafts 23 and 24 therefore work in unison and as power isintroduced to both shafts at nearly the same point in their length thereis no appreciable diHerence in torsion in the two shafts 23 and 24.

As shown particularly in Fig. II the cams for imparting endwise movementto the spindle controlling shafts 11, 13 and 12 and 14, and the threadwire shafts 15 and 16, are mounted on cross cam shafts 60 of themachine, which shaft 60 is driven in the usual way by bevel gearing fromthe longitudinal cam shaft 27. On the shaft 60 are mounted six cams, inlieu of three cams, as heretofore. The two innermost cams acting throughthe intermediary of levers 61 and 62 pivoted at 63 actuate the spindlecontrolling shafts 12 and 14 of the spooling heads on the rail 2. Thenext (or third) cam on the shaft 60 imparts movement to a lever 64 whichis pivoted at 65. The lever 64 actuates, by means of a link 66 and joint67 the thread wire shaft 16 of the spooling heads on the rail 2. Thecams next in order (the fourth and fifth cams) on said shaft 60 actuate,respectively, by means of levers 68 and 69 pivoted at 70, the spindlecontrolling shafts 11 and 13 of the spooling heads on the rail 1. Theoutermost (or sixth) cam on said shaft 60 imparts movement to a lever 71which is pivoted at 72. The lever 71 actuates, by means of a link 73 andjoint 74, the thread wire shaft 15 of the spooling heads on the rail 1.The spindle controlling shafts 11, 13

and 12, 14, work in unison, as all of the six cams above mentioned aresecured to the cam shaft 60, and "fas the levers 61 and 62 areproportionate to the levers 68 and 69, while the first, second, fourthand fth cams, in the order above mentioned are constructed similarly andare adapted to be adjusted to their respective levers so that themovements of the levers synchronize. The usual shaping cam 75 of themachine carries a hand wheel 7 6. As is usual in spooling machines ofthe VVeild type, the said hand wheel is fixed on the shaft 75 andcarries on its boss a small cam for operating the shafts 17 and 18 whichcarry the side or starting end knives. A lever 77, pivoted at 78, bearsagainst the side knife cam, which cam is located behind the hand wheel76. rIhe lever 77 operates, by meansof a link 79, one arm of abell-crank lever 80 mounted on the shaft 81 which passes through therail 1 and which carries at its outer end a lever 82 which lever bearsagainst and actuates, the side knife shafts 17 of the spooling heads onthe rail 1. The other arm of said bell-crank lever 80 actuates, by meansof a link 83, one arm of another bell-crank lever 84 pivoted on a studon the rail 2. The other arm of the bellcrank lever 84 bears against,and actuates, the side knife shaft 18 of the spooling heads on the rail2; the shafts 17 and 18 being thus caused to work in unison.

The traverse shafts 23 and 24 of the spooling heads on the rails 1 and2, respectively, are shown in Fig. II, also a rectangular bracket 85hereinafter called the guide shaft coupling, and a frame 86 carrying theusual traverse screw 87 of the Veild type of spooling machine, but forthe sake of clearness, the arrangement of traverse (or guide) shafts,guide shaft coupling and traverse screw as shown particularly in Figs.III and IV. The bracket 85 forming the guide shaft coupling isrectangular in shape but is curved rearward as shown in Fig. IV. Theusual square frame 86 of the lVeild spooling machine for carrying theusual right or left hand guide screw and shortl traverse shaft 88 ismounted in such a position that the axis of the said shaft 881s, asnearly as possible, equi-distant from the axis of the traverse shafts 23and 24. The traverse shafts 23 and 24 are free to rotate in theirbearings in the guide shaft coupling 85 but are controlled as to endwisemovement by means of stop collars 89 and 90 and thrust adjustment nuts91, 91a. The bearings of the shafts 23 and 24 in the coupling 85 aremade long, and end play on each individual shaft may be eliminated byadjustment of lock nuts 91 and 91a, thereby in-sur-` ing that the shaftswill work in unison, in so far as their sliding or endwise movement isconcerned.

The end of the. shaft 88 -is screw-threaded and in the center of thecoupling 85 there is mounted a bracket 92 having an orifice providedwith a female thread to lit the screwthreaded endof the shaft 88. Thefemalethreaded portion is mounted on the coupling 85 co-axially with theshaft 88 which is screwed into a correspondingly threaded orice in abracket 92 and adjustably fixed by a lock nut. A rocking bracket 93adapted to carry the usual half-nuts, one on either side, for engagingwith the right or left hand screw-threaded portions of the guide screw,is held on the shaft 88 by means of the usual stop-collars 91, 95. Theusual to and fro traverse motion of the lVeild spooling machineisimparted by means of the shaft 88 to the guide shaft coupling 85 whichcarries the two traverse (or guide) shafts 23 and 241, which shafts aretherefore caused to slide in unison.

Referring particularly to Figs. V and VI, the machine is driven by anelectromotor secured to a stretcher 96 located near the base of themachine frame. A shaft 97 which is driven by means of a flexiblecoupling and forms a continuation of the motor shaft, is carried in themain headstock of the machine. On the shaft 97 is mounted a coil clutchof which one member 98 is free to move endwise but rotates with theshaft. rI`he other member 99 of said clutch is mounted freely on theshaft 97 and carries a gear wheel 100 which, by means of an invtermediate gear wheel 101, drives a gear wheel 102 secured to a shaft103 hereinafter called the first motion shaft. In operation the motor ispermit-ted to run continuously, and by means of suitable lever devicesthe sliding clutch member 98 is brought into contact with the otherclutch member 99 which carries the gear wheel 100 and thereby impartsmovement to the other gear wheels and relative connections. lVhile theclutch members 98 and 99 are in positive engagement with each other, therst motion shaft 103 runs continuously, whether the machine is spoolingor ending. On the first motion shaft 103 are mounted two coil clutcheshaving one common sliding member 1.01 which is free to slide endwise on,and rotate with the shaft 103. On the first motion shaft, between thesliding clutch member 104 and the gear wheel 102, there is mounted afree clutch member 105 which carries a gear wheel 106 serving to drivethe spooling motions of the machine and hereinafter called the greatwheel. On the said clutch member 105 is mounted a brake pulley 107 whichchecks the momentum of the spooling motions. When the sliding clutchmember 101 is brought into positive engagement with the free member 105the great wheel 106 is caused to rotate; in suitable positions aremounted two intermediate wheels 108 and 109. The intermediate wheel 108serves to drive a wheel 110 mounted on a short shaft 111, Figs. III, IVand VI, adapted to rotate in the usual square frame 86 of the lVeildspooling machine. For the sake of clearness in the description, theshaft 111 is hereinafter referred to as the spindle` wheel shaftextension, because it rotates at the same speed as the spindle wheelshafts 19 and 20, and carries on its outer end the usual pinion fordriving the spooling change gears. In addition to driving the gear wheel110, the said intermediate gear wheel 108 drives a gear wheel 112, thenumber of teeth of which correspond to the number of teeth in the gearwheel 110, said gear wheel 112 being mounted on the spindle wheel shaft19 of the bottom row of spooling heads. In a similar manner theintermediate gear wheel 109 drives a gear wheel 113 mounted on thespindle shaft of the top row of spooling heads and having teethcorresponding in number to the number of teeth in the gear Wheel 110.The gear wheels 110, 112 and 113 have all the same number of teeth andare driven by means of intermediate gear wheels from one common drivingwheel-the great wheel 10G-and are mounted, respectively, on the spindlewheel shaft extension 111, on the spindle wheel shaft 19, and on thespindle wheel shaft 20. Therefore, the spindle wheel shafts in both rowsof spooling heads and the spindle wheel shaft extension carrying theusual spooling change gear driving pinion, are driven synchronously.

In order to drive the ending motions of the machine, there is mounted onthe first shaft 103, a three-coil clutch member 114, hereinafterreferred to as the ending motion clutch, and the sliding clutch member104: is brought into positive engagement with the ending motion clutch114, to cause/said clutch to rotate. On the ending motion clutch 1141, apinion 115, Fig. V, lis mounted, which pinion 115 drives, by means of anintermediate gear wheel 116, a gear wheel 117 mounted on a short shaft118 passing through the side of the machine frame, and thus transmittingpower outside the main headstock. On the outer end of the shaft 118 apinion 120 is mounted. The pinion 120 acting through the usual reducinggear, consisting of a gear wheel 125 mounted on one end of anintermediate shaft 126 carrying at its other end a pinion, drives thegear wheel 127 Fig. II, mounted on the longitudinal cam shaft 27,carrying the ending motion cams, i

Having now described my invention what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent of the United States is 1. In an automatic spoolingmachine, the combination of a plurality of rows of headstocks, nicking,cutting, holding and winding mechanisms carried by said headstocks,

and mechanisms for actuating said niclring, cutting, holding and Windingmechanisms, said actuating mechanisms being coupled together to causeallsaid spooling means to operate in unison.

2. In an automatic spooling machine, the combination of a plurality ofrows of headstocks, spooling means comprising winding, nicking, cutt-ingand holding mechanisms, carried by said headstocks, ending meansassociated with said headstocks, means for actuating said spoolingmechanisms, said means being coupled together to cause them to operatein unison, and means coupling said ending means to cause the same tooperate synchronously.

3. In an automatic spooling machine, the combination of a plurality ofrowsof headstocks, spooling means on each headstock comprising winding,cutting, nicking and holding means and including shafts parallel to saidrows for supporting said winding,

cutting, nicking and holding means, means for actuating said shafts andmeans coupling the actuating means of each set of 2b correspondingshafts in each headstock to 35 cause the latter to operate in unison.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

ALEXANDER GROUNDWATER WALLS.

Vtnesses:

VV'ALLACE CRANs'roN FAIRWEATHER, JOHN MCCLEARY.

'Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of lPatents, Washington, D. C.

and holding 30

